Disclaimer: Don't own it.

OH. My. Fucking. God. I am SOOOO sorry for the long wait. I'm kinda dealing with this bad depression and I've started playing basketball and I'm a cheerleader now too. Haha. Go figure.

Anyway, I'M SO SORRY!!!! Please forgive me!! Oh yes, and thanks to all of you who updated 'Rainy Fridays'. It's Tala-centric oneshot side story, Tainted, should be up soon.

Anyway, on with the fic.

Thoughts: //blah blah blah//

Flashbacks: --------------------

Blah blah blah

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The waiting room was quiet, a great contrast to the chaos going on a few hours earlier. When Max was brought in, he was given a blood transfusion immediately. It was successful, thankfully, but the young blond had still not awoken when Kai last checked on him. That had been hours ago, and visiting hours were over, yet everyone remained in the waiting room, most of them being asleep, it now going on 4 AM.

Kai had called Mr. Dickenson, thoroughly explaining the current situation. Mr. Dickenson had in turn called both of Max's parents, explaining it to them. Kai figured that they were both on planes heading for their current location.

Kai looked around the waiting room. Everyone but himself was asleep. Mystel, Brooklyn and Garland were all curled up together on the floor. Emily and Ming Ming were side by side in chairs, both curled up into balls. Miguel was curled up in one of the chairs, Claude merely an arm's length away. Kevin was curled up in a chair to Kai's left while Lee and Mariah were sitting side by side in chairs across the room, Mariah having her head on Lee's shoulder. Rick was leaning up against the wall, head bowed and Michael was sitting in a chair, his cap pulled over his eyes and his head resting in the palm of his hand. Rei was currently curled up in Kai's arms, purring as he slept. Kai figured that was just a neko-jin thing.

The most heartwarming sight in the room was without a doubt his two best friends. Bryan had two chairs, one for his upper body, and the other for his lower body. In his arms, Tala was sleeping peacefully, his head buried into the crook of the older Russian's neck. Kai found it oddly sweet. He hoped they would finally just hook up. Kai knew Bryan had been after Tala for -years-.

There was only one person missing. Tyson. The last time Kai had seen him Tyson was sitting beside Max's door, looking utterly miserable. Kai knew it was partly Tyson's fault, but he also knew someone should have been watching Tyson at the club all along.

Kai shifted Rei in his arms, trying his best not to wake him. Golden eyes blinked open despite all Kai's efforts, however.

Rei yawned and stretched, looking up at Kai afterwards. Looking around he saw everyone asleep. He smiled when his golden eyes came across the cute sight of Tala and Bryan.

Frowning, he looked back up at Kai.

"Is he awake yet?"

His voice was low and his tone was worried.

Kai shook his head.

"No. He's not. The doctor said he should wake up soon though."

Rei nodded.

"That's good news."

"Yeah it is…"

Rei frowned. Kai sounded…odd. Rei didn't like it.

"What's wrong?"

Kai sighed tiredly.

"Mr. Dickenson called Max's parents. They should be here in a few hours."

Rei frowned.

"This is going to be hell for Tyson. They're going to jump his ass the moment they arrive."

"I know…but even though he was the one to do it, we are to blame as well. No one was watching him."

Rei nodded.

"That's true. So, what do we do now?"

"For now, we rest. It's going to get chaotic once everyone wakes back up."

Rei yawned and nodded, curling back up into his former position in Kai's arms.

Leaning up, he kissed the pale, now paint-free, cheek of his lover.

"Everything's going to be okay. Just you wait and see."

Kai frowned ever so slightly.

"I can only hope…"

Rei sighed softly and closed his eyes, frowning. He'd never seen Kai this way, acting so forlorn, like there was no hope left. It worried him.

//Kai…please don't be like this. Everything will be okay. You just have to hope for the best. Why can't he understand this//

With this thought, Rei let himself slip into the land of sleep.

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Ice blue eyes blinked open in hearing a loud commotion in the hallway outside the waiting room. Sitting up carefully as to not wake Bryan, Tala yawned and stretched, then crawled over the arm of the chair, standing up. Looking around the room he noticed Kai, Rei, Michael, Emily and Rick missing. Looking at the clock he saw it was about 6:30. It was definitely too early to be getting up.

Frowning, he ran a hand through his red hair, effectively smoothing it down. Making sure his clothes were in perfect order, he slipped on his boots and exited the room quietly, making sure not to wake anyone.

Upon entering the hall he found it in utter chaos. To his right he could see the distraught form of Max's mother, Judy, and Max's much calmer father along with Michael, Rick, Kai and Rei, none of the bladers looking like they knew what to do.

Judy was seething. How could Tyson hurt her youngest child? Why would he?

"Where's Tyson?! I demand to speak with him this instant!"

Tala rolled his eyes.

//Bitch. She's more interested in blessing out Tyson than she is in her own son. I'm glad Max isn't like her. //

Tala walked towards the group, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Kai immediately sensed his arrival and gave him a warning glare, seeing the look on the redhead's face, knowing he wasn't in a good mood.

Kai then pinned Judy with the same glare.

"Listen. It wasn't all Tyson's fault. Someone should have been watching him. He didn't even know what he had done until Tala told him. Imagine what he's going through right now. He raped his best friend and he didn't even realize it."

Judy was hardly satisfied with this explanation and continued with her rant.

"But he -raped- my son! My poor little Maxie! He took away his innocence! I don't care how he feels! My poor baby…"

Mr. Tate frowned.

"Judy, You've got to calm down…this isn't helping anyone…"

Michael opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. Looking over to Rick, he mumbled something quietly to him and the two of them walked off. Tala figured they were probably going to go get the doctor that was assigned to treating Max.

"My poor little Maxie. That little brat raped him! He hu—"

"Shut up."

Tala's voice was like ice, his eyes mirroring the icy tone. He had had enough of this.

"Tyson didn't know, okay? Like Kai said, it was all of our faults. We should have also kept an eye on Tyson as well as Max. If you want to blame someone, you'll have to blame all of us. Bryan, Kai, Rei, Tyson and myself. Not any one person. Don't you dare try to make Tyson into some monster. I've seen a monster and he was -nothing- like the miserable looking boy sitting beside Max's hospital door."

Tala paused and looked away, looking like he was pushing back some unpleasant memories. Seconds later he pinned Judy with an even icier glare.

"Tyson would have never intentionally hurt your son. Why? Beca—"

"That's enough Tala."

Mr. Dickenson's tone was stern, yet not in a harsh way.

Tala glared at Judy one last time before looking away.

Judy looked stunned to stay the least. Since when did Tala stand up for Tyson?

Mr. Dickenson frowned, looking upon the haggard group of teenagers. Looking past them he could see Bryan exit the waiting room and head towards the group, coming to a stop beside his team captain.

Sighing softly the old man turned his gaze on Judy.

"Mrs. Tate, we should move this into a more private area and perhaps get a bite to eat. I'm sure you boys must be starving."

They nodded.

Mr. Dickenson smiled slightly.

"Then come along. I'll have the small café in the hospital closed so that we can discuss this amongst ourselves."

Once again, they all nodded.

"Good. Now where are Rick, Emily and Michael?"

Kai frowned.

"Rick and Michael went to go look for the doctor. Emily went to go see if the café was open yet or not. She said she'd save us a table."

Mr. Dickenson nodded.

"Very well. There are many things we need to discuss about our little Max."

Mr. Dickenson gave Judy a pointed look, which did not go unnoticed by Kai and Tala. Sharing a look, the two captains frowned. Someone was hiding something, and this something was major.

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The doctors had already come and talked with Max's mother and father, them coming back in with strange looks on their faces. For now though, the café was empty, save for their group. Even the cooks and waitresses were asked to leave for this meeting. The group had already eaten, but once Rei and Tala saw the seriousness of having no one in the café but them, they wished they hadn't. The both had a sinking feeling in their stomachs. Sharing a worried look, they turned their attention to Mr. Dickenson, Rei linking arms with Kai and Tala abruptly grabbing Bryan's hand, holding it tightly. Kai could have sworn he saw a faint tint of pink spread across the lilac haired teen's cheeks.

It was Emily who broke the silence.

"Mr. Dickenson, just what is this meeting about. What's going on?"

Tala looked over at Judy, frowning softly.

"What have you been hiding from his team, his friends?"

Judy sighed.

"It's complicated."

Rick snorted.

"Complicated? Stop beating around the bush and tell us."

Mr. Dickenson gave Rick a look, effectively quieting him.

Judy frowned and grasped her ex-husband's hand; though everyone was sure they were more than likely back together, the reason why Max was probably staying at the dojo.

"The doctor informed us he hasn't been taking his pills like he's supposed to."

Kai's eyes narrowed.

"Pills?"

Judy frowned and nodded.

"Yes pills. Anti-depressant pills. He had to start taking the due to…an accident in his childhood."

Mr. Tate held Judy's hand tighter.

Kai frowned.

//So -that's- what those pills were…//

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Kai walked into the kitchen seeing Max standing near the kitchen counter with a glass of water in one hand and two pills in the other.

Kai looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

"I didn't know you took medicine."

Max jumped and turned around.

"Kai! You scared me!"

The blond pouted and then smiled.

"Nah. I don't. I just have a headache, That's all."

Kai stood there for a moment, studying the blond skeptically. Shrugging he left the kitchen, going back outside to train.

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Kai's frown deepened

"He must have stopped taking them after I questioned him about them."

Judy looked over at Kai.

"You saw him take them?"

Kai nodded.

"Yes, once. He said it was headache medicine. I haven't seen him take them since. That was probably about 3 weeks after the last tournament ended."

Judy's eyes widened. Max had not been taking his medicine for over 6 months. No wonder he was so bad off.

//That's why he took this so hard so quickly. He probably quit taking his pills because he was afraid of being different. My poor Maxie. Why does it have to be like this//

Bryan looked curious.

"Why'd he have to go on pills in the first place? There has to be a good reason for it."

The other teens nodded.

Tala frowned slightly.

"True. They won't put you on them without good reason. I've had first hand experience with that…"

The redhead trailed off, not wanting to go any further. Bryan scooted his chair closer and slung a possessive arm around Tala's shoulders, comforting him.

Rei however stayed silent. He couldn't believe what was happening. Max was on pills? What was next?

Judy frowned and grabbed a few napkins out of the holder.

"I knew you all would ask this. I'm just surprised at which one of you did."

Bryan merely shrugged.

The blond haired woman sighed and clutched the napkins in her hand.

Mr. Tate frowned and started her tale for her, dropping the first bomb.

"I'm not his real father. Max's real father was Japanese, which is why I chose to live here in Japan since it is part of Max's heritage also. Max's real father died when he was just a baby. His last name was Mizuhara."

The teens sat in stunned silence. Tala and Rei looked over at each other, proving their instincts were right. Those same instincts told them that the worst was yet to come, and this is what they feared.

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Ocean blue eyes fluttered open and studied their surroundings. Max frowned, seeing he was in the hospital. Bringing his wrists up to eye level he could clearly see they were wrapped tightly with gauze. He figured they more than likely had to stitch the cuts he had made up.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he whimpered at the pain in his wrists. Sniffling softly he pulled his knees ups to his chest, his arms securely fastening around them. Resting his head on his knees, he began to sob.

Through his sobs, a single name was called.

"Gabriel…"

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I'm so very, very, cruel. I should be shot fort his. XD. I bet you're all wondering who Gabriel is! Yes, yet another twist. I honestly don't know how I came up with this one. This one wasn't in the original plan and neither is the next twist, which will appear in the 2nd or 3rd chapter, depending on my mood. More KaiRei to come with the second twist! Scout's honor!

Anyway, please review. It makes me happy, and it makes me update faster. :D.